Slowed Down

Today one of my friends and I did a little walking... there was a festival in Portland today and it was nice to be out and about with so many people on such a beautiful day. It truly felt like the beginning of summer. We parked pretty far from everything and walked around. On the way to the festival we were walking mostly down hill. On the way back, obviously we were walking uphill. At one point she asked me if my knee was starting to bug me. She said she noticed my pace had slowed down. My knee was bothering me, but not in a painful way... but in that it was tired. It was more my quad than my knee actually. It's funny how I still notice that my head thinks my body is more capable than it is. When my quad is fatigued, I notice it is harder to extend my leg out as far, making my stride shorter and it does tend to go slower than I expect it will. The other thing I notice is that uneven surfaces, especially on an incline or decline, are very hard. It's comparable, I suppose to depth perception in a way.. I know where the ground is, but my leg doesn't react as quickly as I think it should, or expect it to. But... A year ago... I would not have been able to even thinkn about being able to go to the festival because of the pain... so today was a day that I can measure progress from... And while it is still a process... it is progress... and there will be more... I am contemplating a short bike ride after dinner. But... it may not happen... we'll see.